By REUTERS

June 8, 2014

Exports rose 7 percent in May compared with a year earlier, quickening from April’s 0.9 percent increase, while imports fell 1.6 percent, versus a rise of 0.8 percent in April, the General Administration of Customs said. China’s trade surplus widened sharply to $35.9 billion in May from April’s $18.5 billion, the customs office said.

“We do not think the May trade data will change the policy stance significantly,” Louis Kuijs, an RBS economist in Hong Kong, said in a note. “While the export data is reasonably positive, the weakness of domestic demand implied by the import data may keep the pressure up for initiatives to support growth.”

China’s Commerce Ministry had predicted that the trade picture would brighten in May as government support measures kicked in.

Analysts have attributed weak trade figures partly to a rash of fake invoicing of exports last year, which artificially inflated numbers for that period.

The authorities have sought to curb such activities since May 2013.

“The data shows that the country’s export growth has returned to a normal level and will continue to improve,” a spokesman for the customs office, Zheng Yuesheng, said on state television.

Exports to the United States rose 6.3 percent in May, slowing from a rise of 12 percent in April, while shipments to the European Union rose 13.4 percent last month, compared with 15.1 percent in April. Exports to regional countries rose 9.1 percent, quickening from 3.8 percent in April, the data showed.

The pickup in exports follows a batch of factory surveys for May that showed improvement in activity as the government speeds up construction of railways and public housing and loosens credit conditions for selected banks.

The government has also unveiled some policy support for exports, including more tax breaks, credit insurance and currency hedging options for exporters.

Last month, a senior commerce ministry official suggested that China could miss its target for trade growth for a third consecutive year in 2014 as higher labor costs and weaker global demand hurt what had been one of the economy’s main engines.

China’s combined exports and imports edged up 0.2 percent in the first five months compared with a year earlier, trailing far behind the annual growth target of 7.5 percent.

Analysts say China’s property market could hurt growth even as global demand improves, as evidence mounts of a rapid cooling in what had been one of the few strong spots in the economy.

The government will release inflation data on Tuesday, and industrial output, retail sales and fixed-asset investment on Friday. New loan and money supply data will be issued June 10-15.